EXTRA Stiff VS Extra Flex

Perhaps you can read this article by Kwun, I find it very useful:

http://www.badmintoncentral.com/badminton-central/content/view/91/33/

 

This all depends on you and your type of play and skill level.

If you ask a professional/coach/trainer, they will say in general: ideally, use the stiffest racket you can flex consistently and then (if you can) get a racket one level less stiff.

Why? This is to maximize your performance. The stiffer the racket you can flex, the more power you can generate. Getting a racket one level less stiff is for one of those days where you're not at your prime or had a marathon today and you are too tired to flex your main racket.

Of course, if you are a defensive or touch player, you may want to throw this out the door because you should go with a medium flex racket which will be more forgiving.

Lots of variables.

 

Wouldn't you want to train with a racquet that is a bit stiffer than you are comfortable with, so that you can work over time on increasing what you can handle? Or is the increased advantage of higher stiffness so little that it's best just to go with what you find easy from the start?

 

It's like you buying a bigger shoes for the kids to grow into the size, right? I feel it is not the right idea because this will often lead to injury. You would like to get a steady performance improvement over time. Also, in geneal, higher end + stiffer racquet are more expensive. No need to spend extra money for the pain. If you like to spend money for the pain, look for a SM mistress.

 

While growing up we always bought shoes or clothes a little bigger than what felt 'just right'. I could understand buying a racquet with stiffness you are comfortable with, but going one notch lower seemed to go against what was intuitive.

I see what you mean about the pain though. It really isn't worth injuring yourself just to plan for the future.

 

lol, speaking from experiences i bet

casual shoes arent equal to badminton shoes.
casual mean casual use. Unless one play casual badminton leisurely, one has to use equips that excel his/her today's performance, not next month or year's performance, whether it's stiffness, swingweight, or shoe size

 

So do people just stick with the stiffness that naturally feels best? They don't try to work their way up to stiffer racquets? If they do the latter, how do they manage it without getting a racquet that is too stiff for them currently, but which they will be able to use properly one day?

 

Well, fortunately/unfortunately, rackets don't last forever... just when you get used to a racket, something will happen to it and you'll need a new one. A racket that may have been too stiff previously, might give you surprisingly better results now. This might not be the case at all... I've played for years and my skill level really hasn't changed all that much, so I kinda have a feel for what works for me.

This is an issue that's paralleled in golf with shaft stiffness. They have steel shafts, they have graphite shafts. The graphite shafts are broken down in to more flexible to extra stiff - just like in badminton... different people will just have different levels of play, and it just takes a bunch of experimentation to find the "sweet spot".

 

This is just my BS opinion. I found a racquet I liked very much (Yonex AR80) and I used it for the last 10 years. I finially decide to try out for a new racquet. I beg, bribe and borrow different racquets from different people to figure which one I like (Yonex Cab20ms and Cab30ms). They are stiffer and more stiffer than my old AR80 but I was able to handled both. At the end I settle with 2 Cab20ms because my wife step her foot down (PS. I ask my wife if I am looking for pain not mistress). The moral of the story is that just like cloth or shoes, you know it when you out grow the size and time to get a new one. Just like clothing, you better try it out in the fitting room before you buy it.

 

I think I see what you mean. Thanks for explaining it silentheart and Locomoco.

 

Hey Sandeep, I can share from personal experience that if you use a racket that is more flexible than the flex that suits you, your elbow bears the brunt and chances of your getting a tennis elbow are increased. However, if you use a racket stiffer than the power in your muscles, your wrist takes a beating and so do the triceps. For being able to use stiff rackets, you have to have stiff muscles to bear the jerk you will get when the shuttle strikes the racket. If you are using a higher flexible racket than what is needed by you, you will need to exert more power from the muscles to get the impact you are seeking. Therefore the impact is felt on the elbow.

Which is why choosing the right equipment is important. Professional players have already developed their muscles beyond the threshold of using extra stiff rackets and therefore it does not matter to them from an injury perspective. They are also able to generate more power since it suits their fast swing style.

 

OK, that does explain the health reasons for carefully choosing racquet stiffness very well. I suppose as you play more with a certain racquet, then when it comes to buying the next one your muscles may be ready to deal with a stiffer one.

 

That raises an important question - whether playing baddy builds up muscles or do you need to build the right muscles to play baddy? I think the latter is more appropriate - u need to exercise right to build up the right muscles before moving on to the higher stiff racket. Else you would feel better with a stiffer racket for a few days and then will walk the injury trap way...

 

I recently changed from a MP88 (quite flexible) to AR800 Of (stiff). Ive had the new racquet a week and the stiffness and and slight change in the head design still are taking some getting used to. I find i can get all the power i want without injury, but im struggling to hit the sweet-spot compared to the more flexible racquets.

I have hit one or 2 smashes that have been stronger than anything i have done with my MP88, but apart from that the rest are slightly down. I think it will require a lot of smash drills to get my timing and accuracy right to get more power! So it seems the stiffer racquets are less forgiving. On the plus side i find backhand drops and clears far easier than before.